<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>All Bottled Up by Volumes_Too_Logan (AceGhostHost)</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23548363">All Bottled Up</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceGhostHost/pseuds/Volumes_Too_Logan'>Volumes_Too_Logan (AceGhostHost)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Sanders Sides (Web Series)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(non-graphic), Eating Disorders, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Morality | Patton Sanders Angst, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Platonic LAMP - Freeform, Starvation</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 16:54:52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,083</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23548363</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceGhostHost/pseuds/Volumes_Too_Logan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Thomas bottles up emotions, Patton feels full.  Usually it fades after a bit and Patton gets back on a regular schedule, but this time it goes too far.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Anxiety | Virgil Sanders &amp; Morality | Patton Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders &amp; Morality | Patton Sanders</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>89</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Dinner's Ready</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Sides were all sitting in the common room of the mindscape thinking up some possible ideas for the next video.  Patton really wanted to do something like the Draw My Life that Roman had suggested in “Am I Original”, but Roman claimed it was “too soon after that fateful event” for them to follow through with the idea.  Logan wanted to do a tag video- possibly including his friends, Virgil added- since those videos followed a very specific and clear structure, but Roman complained that they’d already done a few of those already.</p><p>“Roman, we’ve been over this, the ideas do not have to be entirely original.”  Logan stated.  Princey’s shoulders slumped as he gestured towards the others.</p><p>“But is it really too lofty a dream to have?  Imagine having a concept that’s entirely our own!”  Virgil gave him a disinterested side eye before turning back to Patton.</p><p>“I think your idea would work, but Thomas isn’t the best artist,” he said honestly.</p><p>Patton shrugged.  “I dunno, I just think it could be fun!”</p><p>“We can workshop it more later, it’s getting late,” Logan interjected, closing his binder and sending it away to his room.  “We should start dinner.  Patton, would you care to help?”</p><p>“Sure!” he replied, hopping up from his chair.  They began their regular routine: Logan read the recipe while Patton cooked the food.  Roman and Virgil hung around behind the counter to keep an eye on how much Patton was seasoning the food; he was notorious for over-seasoning and they weren’t about to let him ruin a perfectly good dish with a pound of paprika.</p>
<hr/><p>After about 45 minutes, dinner was ready and plated.  The Sides all took their respective seats around the table and started to dig in.  Well, almost all of them.</p><p>“Is everything okay, Patton?”  Logan asked, eyeing him with mild concern.</p><p>Patton’s fork was hovering just above his plate, not quite touching his food.  For a moment his face looked unsure, but then he smiled and rubbed the back of his neck.</p><p>“Sorry, I just remembered I had a big lunch.  My eyes are telling me ‘eat’, but my tum’s telling me ‘wait’.  D’you mind if I wrap this for later?”</p><p>“Go ahead,” Roman said around a forkful of food.  “We won’t touch it if you put it in the fridge.”  Patton smiled again and excused himself from the table to go wrap his plate.</p><p>“Okie dokie, kiddos, I’ll see you later.  Enjoy dinner!”  And with that, Morality sunk out of the kitchen leaving behind the dining Sides and an empty chair.</p>
<hr/><p>The next day, Logan entered the kitchen to start making his breakfast.  When he opened the fridge, he saw a wrapped dinner plate with <em>Morality &lt;3 </em>written on it.  <em>Strange… Patton didn’t come back for dinner, </em>he noted absently, pulling out the egg carton and closing the door.</p>
<hr/><p>It was about ten o’clock in the morning when Patton finally made his way downstairs.  Roman and Virgil were watching Disney movies in the commons, so he decided to sit down with the Logical Side at the table.</p><p>“Mornin’, Logan!”  He said, chipper as ever.  Logan looked up from his Sudoku puzzle and offered a small nod.</p><p>“Good morning, Patton.”  The air probably wasn’t as tense as Logan thought it was, but seeing Virgil glance up and catch his eye proved that there was definitely some anxiety present.  Logan shook his head and Virgil got the message, returning to his film.  “I noticed that you never finished your dinner last night.  Is everything alright?”</p><p>Patton nodded with a sheepish smile.  “Yeah, sorry about that.  I ended up falling asleep before I could come back down and eat it.”  Logan nodded.</p><p>“So you’ll have breakfast, then?”</p><p>Patton squirmed a little in his seat.  “I have some granola bars in my room, so I was just going to have one of those.”  The other Side gave him a long look, causing him to fidget even more.  After a long moment, Logan broke the silence.</p><p>“Okay,” he sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose, “but remember that Thomas has those family plans later tonight, we have to properly prepare.”</p><p>“Yeah, I know,” he said, rising from his chair, “I’ll be down in time.”  He turned and walked up the stairs, the weight of Logan’s gaze heavy on his back.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Family Parties Aren't Fun</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The Sides return from the family party and everyone is worse for wear.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The family plans hadn’t gone so well.  The family members who were visiting were very conservative and always brought up problematic topics without wanting to actually have a discussion about them.  Overall, it was a draining experience.</p><p>By the time Thomas was safe at home and going through his nightly routine, the Sides were all worse for wear.  Virgil had immediately sunk to his room, unable to stand any longer after all of the social anxiety that had been built up at the party.  Roman felt rather downtrodden at the comments Thomas had gotten about getting a “real job” and he was definitely battered from having to keep up appearances throughout the whole experience.  Logan was frazzled after being forced to reassess all of his previously filed facts all night.  Wild accusations and claims at truth were the bane of his existence and it usually took a long book and some advanced crossword puzzles to regroup and ground himself.  </p><p>And last, but not least, was Patton.  He felt sick, but he couldn’t let the others see, especially not when they were all doing so poorly.  That wouldn’t be very nice at all.  So he sank to his room just like all the others and tried to sleep it off.</p>
<hr/><p>He awoke at one o’clock the following day, still feeling gross inside.  His stomach hurt like he’d just eaten an entire batch of cookies in one sitting, something he’d learned not to do after convincing 9-year-old Thomas that it was a good idea.  He considered just staying in bed all day to match Thomas’ plans, but then remembered Logan’s worried expression the other morning.  <em>I’ll grab some snacks so he doesn’t get worried,</em> he rationalized, slipping out of his comfy pajamas and into his polo and khakis.</p><p>Patton made his way downstairs and heard some half-hearted banter coming from the kitchen.</p><p>“If you’d wanted the last waffle, you should’ve eaten it,” Virgil was saying as Patton rounded the corner.</p><p>“Well, I had <em>planned </em>to, Virgil, that’s why my name was on the <em>wrapper</em>.”  Roman retorted.</p><p>“Oh, oops, guess I missed it,” Virgil said with a smirk, watching his waffle through the microwave door.</p><p>“I–!”  Roman gestured at the garbage can which held a wrapper on top that read <em>Roman’s, do not eat! ✨ </em> Finally he threw his hands up in defeat.  “Fine!  I’ll make myself pancakes!”  While Roman turned to begin gathering ingredients, Patton came up beside Virgil.</p><p>“How’s it going, kiddo?”</p><p>“Good I guess,” he said, watching the waffle rotate in the microwave.  “Just got up, so there’s that.”</p><p>“Well after yesterday especially, that’s commendable!”  Patton said cheerfully.  Almost too cheerfully, Virgil thought.</p><p>“Yeah, I suppose.  What about you?  Yesterday was pretty rough on all of us, how’re you holding up?”</p><p>Patton opened his mouth to respond, but suddenly smelled burning.  “Um, Virge?”  He pointed to the microwave where the waffle was beginning to smoke and pop.</p><p>“Oh shh–!” Virgil rushed to open the microwave, smoke billowing out the little door as he fanned it away.  “Darn it!”  The waffle was now sufficiently half-burnt.</p><p>“What did you do to my waffle!?”  Roman yelled, storming over from the pantry as Virgil removed the plate from the microwave.</p><p>“Technically it was <em>my </em>waffle and I guess I crisped it up a bit,” he shrugged.</p><p>“Crisped it up a bit?  It’s ruined!  You ruined the last waffle!”  Roman’s pitch was growing increasingly higher and Virgil was about to lose it.</p><p>“Okay, okay, I’ll make pancakes for the both of us,” he relented.  “Pat, you want in on this?”  Patton eyed the burnt waffle in front of him and felt his stomach lurch at the thought of putting anything in it.</p><p>“N-no thanks,” he said before pausing.  “Actually… could I have the waffle?”</p><p>Roman and Virgil shared a shocked look before Virgil replied, “B-but it’s ruined?”</p><p>“That’s nothing a little syrup can’t fix!”  He grabbed the plate and a bottle of syrup from the counter and beamed.  “I’m just going to eat in my room.  I’ve got to pick it up a little anyways.”  Virgil gave him the critical once over Logan had done the day prior.  Patton wasn’t ready to talk about anything else just yet, so he gave a small wave with his hand clutching the syrup and dipped out.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. No Shows are a No Go</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Virgil confronts Patton to see what’s going on.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Later that night Patton didn’t show for dinner.  The others tried to rationalize it in different ways, but they knew that something was off.  Patton had claimed again that he had snacks in his room and that he’d eaten a big lunch, but the problem was that none of them had actually seen him have lunch that day.  Or over the last three days for that matter.</p><p>“We should have him come downstairs and eat with us,” Logan said, straightening his fork for the dozenth time.  </p><p>“Or we could all go to his room, maybe he needs a good serenade to lift his spirits.”  Roman suggested, pushing his greens around his plate absentmindedly.</p><p>“Okay, no.  We’re not doing a serenade,” Virgil stated, speaking up for the first time since they’d started dinner.  “And forcing him to eat with us won’t get him to open up about what’s bothering him.  I would know,” he added under his breath.</p><p>“Well then, Purple Rain on my parade, what do you suggest?”</p><p>Virgil thought on it for a second before standing and grabbing an extra plate from the kitchen.  “How about I just bring him up a plate of dinner and tell him he can join us whenever?”  He started making up a plate and the other two Sides looked surprised.  “What?” he said defensively, “I can have good ideas too, you know.”  </p><p>“No, we didn’t mean…”</p><p>“We were just…”</p><p>“Guys, it’s fine.”  Virgil said, grabbing a fork and heading up the stairs.  “I’ll be back in a bit.”</p>
<hr/><p>Virgil felt sort of bad for stealing credit for that idea, but he’d been too embarrassed to bring up where he’d learned it from.  Back before “Accepting Anxiety”, before Logic and Prince had started to see Virgil as anything other than an antagonist, Morality had visited him every night to bring him a plate of food before he called the others to the table.  Hearing Patton’s gentle knock at the door had become something he’d started to look forward to every night from the first night he’d arrived.  He never did join them for dinner, but Patton made sure Virgil knew that he was always invited.</p><p>His heart panged as he came up to Patton’s door.  He’d never imagined that their roles would be reversed like this.  His fist shook a bit as he reached up to knock.</p><p>He tried to be as gentle as possible as his knuckles hit the door and soon he heard shuffling from somewhere in the room.  The door creaked open and Patton stood in the doorway, smiling.  His eyes were sunken and he was visibly shaking.  His smile seemed forced and his eyes were red from crying.  Virgil immediately set down the plate and pulled Patton into a tight hug.  </p><p>“Pat, what happened?” he demanded.  The other Side responded only by hugging him back, tears starting to soak through Virgil’s jacket.</p><p>Now that he could see into the room, Virgil was frozen in panic.  There were mounds of clothes and objects everywhere, the ceiling was dark with thunder clouds instead of the usual white, puffy ones, and… oh.  <em>Oh, Patton,</em> Virgil thought as he saw the burnt waffle, the syrup, the hoards of granola bars, and the plate of dinner from two days ago all sitting in a tiny pile by his open closet.  After Patton’s tears ebbed, Virgil pulled away to look him in the eye.</p><p>“Patton, is he bottling them up?”  Virgil asked, eyes pleading with him to open up and tell him the honest truth.  </p><p>“I– <em>hic</em>– y-yes.  I feel so full, I can’t do anything about it,” Patton started crying again and Virgil turned to close the door so the others couldn’t hear them.  He pulled Patton in for another hug, petting his hair and whispering calming shushes until his wracking sobs slowed once more.</p><p>“Patton, you need to tell him to stop, it’s hurting you.  You can’t let him keep bottling up his emotions.  We can work through this, do you want to work through this?”  Patton nodded into Virgil’s shoulder.  “Okay, then first we’re going to need to know where it’s coming from.  Can you tell me what it feels like?”  Patton started mumbling into Virgil’s shoulder.</p><p>“Upset… anger… guilt… <em>hic</em>… sadness…” he listed off a dozen more emotions and Virgil’s heart broke knowing that Patton had been dealing with this alone for days.</p><p>“I think… to me those sound like emotions from that family party.  He had Roman working so hard to make him look good that he locked all of his emotional responses to the event with you.  It’s no wonder you haven’t been hungry lately.”  Patton nuzzled his head into Virgil’s jacket again, trying in vain to dry his tears on the tear-soaked fabric.</p><p>“I just… don’t want… to hurt him… by bringing… it up…” he said through gasps of air.</p><p>“But if you don’t, it’ll keep hurting <em>you</em>.”  Virgil said, his tone firm.  “He’s the only one who can fix this.  We can’t work through it without him”</p><p>“Y-you’re right.”  Patton said, finally releasing himself from the embrace.  “And I– I think we just found our video idea.”  Virgil smiled sadly.  Even through all of this, Patton was still thinking about how to help Thomas carry on with his plans.</p><p>He put an arm on Patton’s shoulder.  “Only if you feel up for it.  I don’t want you to feel pressured.”  Patton smiled, a genuine and warm smile this time, and put his hand over Virgil’s.</p><p>“I’m okay with it, I don’t want anyone else to bottle up their feelings like this.  It’s not healthy and it’s something that people should know about.  If I know that this video will help at least one person somewhere in the world, then gosh darn it, it’ll be worth it.”  Virgil smiled and gave him one more hug.</p><p>“In the meantime, do you think you’d be able to help me with this?”  Patton said, gesturing to his mess of a room.  “I’ve tried cleaning it, but I think I made it worse.”  Virgil chuckled and nodded, moving the fresh dinner plate to the nightstand for later.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. It's Time to Talk</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Virgil helped in Patton’s room until everything was organized and the food hoard had been taken care of.  Patton had insisted that Virgil eat the dinner he’d brought up since it would be going to waste otherwise and after a few minutes of debate, Virgil finally relented and ate his dinner.  He knew that Patton wouldn’t be able to eat it until they’d talked with Thomas, but that didn’t lessen his guilt over the matter.</p><p>When the storm clouds overhead eased into a dusk-like coolness, Virgil knew that things were already starting to get better.  He knew better than anyone how negatively a cluttered space could affect emotions, so it was the least he could do to help Patton clean up a little.  Once they’d finished up as much as they could, Virgil turned to leave.</p><p>“Y-you can tell them,” Patton said, causing Virgil to pause at the door.  “You can tell the others what happened, I don’t mind.”  Virgil turned to face him, concern in his eyes.</p><p>“Are you sure?  I don’t want to overstep any boundaries.”</p><p>Patton nodded.  “It’s okay, I want them to know.  I wasn’t… I wasn’t sure before if I could handle it, but I think that it’ll be okay now.”  He took a deep breath and released it with a smile.  Virgil was proud to see him feeling more like himself again.</p><p>“Okay,” he said, returning the smile a little sadly, “I’ll tell them, but don’t worry, we’ll have this solved tomorrow.  I promise.”</p><p>“I know,” Patton said, sitting down on the corner of his bed.  “I’ll see you in the morning.”</p><p>“See you then.”  Virgil started closing the door, but before it could shut completely, Patton called out.</p><p>“Hey, Virge?”</p><p>He opened the door again, slightly surprised, “Y-yeah?”</p><p>“Thanks.”</p><p>Patton eyes shone with so much love that Virgil had to stop himself from tearing up.  He must’ve been in Pat’s room for too long.</p><p>“Anytime,” Virgil smiled, closing the door behind him.</p>
<hr/><p>The next morning was nearly unbearable for Patton.  He woke up and his stomach felt like it was being stabbed by a thousand tiny knives.  He still couldn’t manage to look at his granola bars and was grateful when he remembered that Virgil had moved them out of sight the night before.  He moved to get out of bed and stumbled to his knees.</p><p>“V-Virgil?” he called out, hoping the other Side was awake already.  “Vir-Virgil…”  He felt woozy.  Patton managed enough energy to sink out of his own room and into Virgil’s before he blacked out.</p>
<hr/><p>“What happened!?”  Roman exclaimed as Virgil entered the common room with Patton in a loose piggyback.</p><p>“It’s the emotions.  He hasn’t eaten because they’re filling him up, we need to talk to Thomas <em>now</em>.”  Virgil said, lying Patton on the couch.  Logan appeared in the room next to Roman and quickly assessed the situation.</p><p>“I didn’t realize it was this bad already,” he said bleakly.  He was shutting down and that was the last thing this situation needed.</p><p>“Logan, I’m gonna need you to stay calm and don’t phase out, okay?”  Virgil knew that while Logan was generally good at keeping his usual emotions in check, sudden bursts of emotions could cause him to freeze them out entirely as a defensive reflex.  But they didn’t need cold and calculating Logan right now, they needed caring and attentive Logan.</p><p>“Okay,” Logan said distantly, trying to fight off the glaze threatening to cover his eyes.  After a moment, he came to and started planning.  “Okay!  We need Thomas and we need resolution.  Have you isolated the cause yet?”</p><p>“Yes,” Virgil said, kind of annoyed, “I told you last night; it was the family party.”  Logan’s back straightened.</p><p>“Yes, of course.  I remember, I just… spaced for a moment.  Okay, so we have the Who, the What, the When, the Where, and we just need the Why.  Hopefully Thomas can provide that and we can resolve this!”  Logan was beginning to fidget, a side effect of refusing an Automatic Shut Down.</p><p>“Well here goes nothing,” Virgil said, picking Patton back up as the Sides began to sink down into the living room.</p><p>Thomas was startled to see them all appear at once, but immediately cried out when he saw Patton’s unconscious form in Virgil’s arms.  </p><p>“What’s wrong with him?  What happened?”  He exclaimed, rushing to Patton’s side.</p><p>“We need to talk about your emotions, Thomas,” Virgil said, glaring at him through his bangs.  He knew that he shouldn’t be mad at Thomas, but he’d endangered one of his own Sides.  He’d endangered <em>Patton</em>.  He took a few deep breaths to calm himself before continuing.  “You can’t bottle things up.  I know it can be… difficult… but you need to allow yourself to feel your emotions, you can’t just lock them away like this.”</p><p>Thomas’ eyes grew wide as he looked from Virgil to Patton.  “I did this?” He asked softly.  Logan stepped forward and put his arm on Thomas’ shoulder.</p><p>“We know you didn’t mean to, but… inadvertently, yes.  This is what happens when you bottle things up.  Patton’s your heart and when you lock your heart away, he gets sick.  He hasn’t eaten in nearly four days because the suppressed emotions have made him feel full.  He’s essentially been starving himself, all the while making sure that we… that we didn’t find out.”  His eyes were downcast as he finished his explanation.  He felt terrible that he hadn’t caught on sooner, but he knew there was nothing to be done about the past.  What mattered was what happened next.</p><p>“What can I do then?”  Thomas asked, taking a few steps away from Patton to face all the Sides.  “What can I do to make this right?”</p><p>“Well, you need to figure out how the event that caused it really made you feel.  You have to embrace those emotions, accept that they are your own, and then understand that it’s okay to feel them.”  Roman said, hoping that this was all it would take.  They’d never dealt with this in such a high magnitude before, usually Thomas just sorted things out himself or with the help of friends.</p><p>“Okay… I can do that…” Thomas took a few deep breaths like Virgil had taught him and he closed his eyes.  He thought back to what might’ve caused this and instantaneously found himself recalling the party.  He’d felt so shocked, embarrassed, angry, flustered, and lost throughout that night.  There were so many emotions and the longer he thought about it, the longer the list grew.  Disdain, sadness, pessimism, exhaustion, indignation.  With every emotion added to the list, Thomas made a mental note to connect it to why he had felt that way, what had caused that specific emotion, and how could he embrace or understand it.</p><p>They all sat in silence for a long while.  Eventually they moved to sit down and Patton was carefully lain on the couch.  As Thomas slowly came to peace with his emotions, Patton began to stir.  The air around them felt lighter and Virgil hadn’t realized how painfully tense his shoulders had been up to that point until he felt them slowly begin to relax.  It was working.</p><p>“You’re doing great, Thomas, keep it up,” Virgil encouraged.  Logan leaned forward, elbows on his knees as he continued to work with Thomas to mentally sift through the party’s encounters.  Roman was sitting on the floor in front of them, worriedly shifting his sword in front of him to distract himself in case he started elaborating upon the memories.  Virgil was already coming down from the stress of the situation, they didn’t need both of them psyching each other out when they were so close to resolving this whole thing.</p><p>After what felt like hours, Thomas finally opened his eyes and released a long-held breath.  “I think that’s all of them,” he said with a tired smile.  “Is Patton going to be okay?”</p><p>Virgil looked to his left and saw Patton’s resting form shift a little in his sleep.  His eyes weren’t as sunken and his skin was back to its rosy tint.</p><p>“I think he’ll be fine after a good meal and a nap,” he said, standing up to stretch out his arms.  “But in the meantime, I’m going to bring him back to his room, I’ll let you know when he’s up and kicking.”</p><p>“Thanks, Virgil,” Thomas said earnestly.</p><p>“It’s no problem,” Virgil replied, scooping Patton up in his arms.  He felt something tug at his jacket and he looked over to see Thomas with tears in his eyes.</p><p>“I mean it.  Thank you.”</p><p>Virgil nodded silently and sunk out.</p>
<hr/><p>When he reappeared in Patton’s room, he could already feel a difference in atmosphere.  The sky was overcast and the air smelled like freshly baked cookies.  <em>Good</em>, Virgil thought, <em>that’ll make him come downstairs for food when he wakes up.</em></p><p>He carefully settled Patton into his bed and placed his favorite toy in his arms for good measure.  He was about to sink out when he heard Patton mumble in his sleep.</p><p>“Thnnks… dark strange… smmm” he rolled over into his pillow and began to snore soundly.  Virgil smiled softly and sunk back to his own room.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Closure</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Virgil was sitting at his desk listening to Fall Out Boy quietly in hopes of hearing a knock at his door.  He’d been like this for a few hours now, playing music and drawing as he awaited Patton’s return to the waking realm.  Soon after the next song started, there was a gentle knock.  He smiled, pausing his music to answer the door.<b><br/>
</b></p><p>The Anxious Side was immediately greeted by an excited Patton throwing himself into the room for a full-force bear hug.  They nearly toppled over, but Virgil was able to steady them both as he stumbled back into his room.</p><p>“You’re back,” Virgil smiled, returning Patton’s hug.  </p><p>“Because of you,” Patton said, smiling into Virgil’s shoulder.  Virgil laughed a little.  </p><p>“I didn’t do anything, it’s nothing, really.”</p><p>Patton pulled away, much to Virgil’s chagrin.  “Virgil, I… Look at me, okay?”  Virgil met his eyes and was not prepared to see the shining tears that were threatening to fall.  “You did so much.  You <em>noticed</em>.  You saw that something was wrong and you did something about it.  I know that Logan and Roman care, but they didn’t know how to help.  I know it can be awful to feel helpless… but sometimes it takes one spark to get the gears turning.”  Virgil chuckled.</p><p>“I think you might be mixing your metaphors,” he said, smiling as the other Side crossed his arms.</p><p>“Now don’t you go trying to change the subject, you did something when it would’ve been even easier to pretend like it wasn’t happening.  The others have their own ways of taking care of their emotions, Roman has his adventures and Logan has his notes, but we’ve got different systems.  It can be hard for them to realize that we can’t all hold our problems at bay on our own.”</p><p>“We can only fix them together,” Virgil finished.  He looked down at his shoes only to find his vision blurred by tears.  He’d never really considered it like that.  He’d known that Patton cared about how he dealt with his problems, but he hadn’t realized that they could only fully deal with them as a team.  Virgil swiped at his eyes with his sleeve and smiled.</p><p>“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”</p><p>“Of course, I am!”  He said, returning back to his chipper tone, “I <em>am </em>Morality after all.”  Virgil rolled his eyes and pulled Patton back in for another hug.  After a long moment, they broke apart again.</p><p>“Let’s go get some food for you, yeah?”  Virgil said as they walked towards his door.</p><p>“Yeah,” Patton smiled, looping their arms together before nearly dragging him down the hall.</p>
<hr/><p>Patton wasn’t exactly sure what he’d been expecting, but he was certainly surprised to see decorations when he rounded into the common room, Virgil still in tow.  There were little balloons taped to the wall along with streamers and a sign that read “Glad You’re Feeling Well” in Logan’s clear penmanship.  It looked like Roman had tried changing it with a red marker to read “sWell”, but it had been partially blotted out.  On the table below the banner was a small dinner set up with a few covered pots and plates.</p><p>“Patton, it’s good to see you up on your feet again, you gave us quite the startle.”  Logan said, obviously restraining himself.  Roman ran forward and enveloped Patton in a hug, accidentally dragging Virgil with him.</p><p>“I’m so glad you’re alright!  I’m sorry I couldn’t do more, but I’m happy you’re okay.”  Roman said boisterously, trying to keep his voice from cracking.  When he finally let them down, Patton sheepishly released Virgil’s arm with a small apology for the unexpected embrace and ran forward to hug Logan tightly.  That’s all it took for Logan’s wall to crumble.  He hid his face in the crook of Patton’s neck as he shook with silent sobs.  Patton pet his hair and mumbled quiet reassurances as the other Side let it all out.  This had taken a toll on all of them and Patton was not about to let any of them keep their emotions inside.</p><p>After a few minutes, Logan straightened up, sniffling as he readjusted his glasses and wiped his eyes.  His face was flushed, but he turned away to avoid eye contact.  Patton smiled.</p><p>“It’s okay now, thanks to all of you,” he said, turning back to Virgil.  “And I know that this was… probably really scary for you all–”</p><p>“Scarier than any monster I’ve ever battled with,” Roman interjected solemnly.</p><p>“But, I think from now on, we need to talk more.  Really talk talk, you know?  We can’t keep going about things like we’re invincible, because we’re not.  And I… I know that I messed up here–”</p><p>“It wasn’t your fault!”  Virgil interrupted indignantly.</p><p>“I know,” he said with a melancholic smile, “but I should’ve come to you when I knew I couldn’t do it on my own.  This isn’t something I can just hide away until it gets better, I know my limits and I had nearly passed those by the time you came to talk with me.”  Virgil looked down at his shoes, not ready to make eye contact and accept the reality of what could’ve happened had he not stepped in.</p><p>“We’ll be more careful next time, more aware,” Logan said, resting his hand on Patton’s shoulder.  The others nodded in agreement and Patton released a content sigh, finally feeling the last remnants of stress leave his shoulders as he sat down at the table.</p><p>“I say we table this for now and dig in,” he said, lifting a lid off one of the dishes.  “How about dinner, then a movie?”  He smiled up at them as they took their respective seats around the table.  The rest of the night was filled with talking, snacking, and laughing as they watched their films.  Patton took a moment late in the night to look around at the Sides surrounding him.  They were all immersed in the movie, the light from the screen dimly reflecting off their faces as music played in the background.  He smiled and cozied up on the couch as he took it all in.  At the end of the day, when all was said and done, they were all there for each other, like one happy, chaotic family.  Patton smiled as he dozed off and for the first time in a long time, he felt at peace.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Based on this prompt from princey-must-slay.tumblr.com</p><p>https://volumes2lo-gan.tumblr.com/post/164196553879/princey-must-slay-hc-whenever-thomas-bottles</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>